Author's note: This is my take on the (sudden lack of) relationships between the Captain and Seven in the show and also on that ridiculous Chakotay/Seven nonsense. I couldn't get all that out of my head until I wrote that story, I hope you like it!

Thanks to rebelchelle71 for the swift beta and enthusiastic feedback! I have been tinkering that text since, so all remaining mistakes are mine.

Chapter 1

Captain Kathryn Janeway was on the bridge and finally there it was, on the screen right in front of her – Earth, her home world. After seven years stranded in the Delta Quadrant, they had made it back. At last, she had taken her ship and crew home.

She should have been happy, she was well aware of it. A tremendous wave of relief should be washing over her. She should have been overjoyed at the prospect of being reunited with her family soon. After all, she had feared that such a thing might never happen in her lifetime again.

She should have been but she wasn't. She tried to focus on the tasks ahead. She was still the Captain. They were not quite home yet. And the Borg hub had taken them to the Alpha Quadrant so fast that her head was still spinning. After seven years of disappointment and setbacks trying to get home, things still seemed a bit unreal, too good to be true.

What seemed very real though was something happening right behind her on the bridge at the very moment. Her second-in-command and dear friend Commander Chakotay, instead of sitting in his chair next to hers as he always did in her presence, was standing most uncharacteristically next to Seven at her battle station.

The last time Janeway had looked around, Chakotay was standing as close as possible to the young Astrometrics officer without actually touching her, looming over her in a loving and protective stance. And Seven, not only was letting him, but was acting like Janeway had never seen her before – like a flustered and blushing young maiden.

The two of them were dating. In his kind, patient and thoughtful way, Chakotay was all over Seven. He looked quite smitten. And the former Borg drone seemed a bit overwhelmed, the most human Janeway had ever seen her – no, it wasn't that – the closest she had ever seen Seven to express positive feelings.

Was Seven experiencing genuine happiness? Janeway had a hard time believing that Chakotay alone could be responsible for what was nothing short of a miracle, the young woman having failed to express such an extrovert feeling as happiness to this day. The Captain hated herself for having such a thought, but nothing about that unexpected courtship felt right to her.

First, there was Chakotay. Over the last seven years, he had become one of the Captain's closest friends. In spite of Janeway never having given him any hope that their relationship would evolve beyond friendship, he had been carrying a torch for her ever since they had spent all that time alone stranded on that planet.

Janeway had gotten used to his quiet love and active devotion. During all these years, he had never shown any sign of interest in anyone else. When the hell had he started getting interested in Seven? She was gorgeous of course, but had never bothered to acknowledge his existence. And he had never so much as looked at her the way most male crew members did.

And then, there was Seven. The former drone had come such a long way since the Captain had severed her link to the Borg collective. She had remarkably adapted, considering. But Janeway knew only too well that from the beginning, Seven had struggled most of all with loneliness.

Seven only believed in logic and efficiency. With her icy blue eyes, perfect figure and obvious contempt for human flaws, she looked cold and intimidating. Her conversational style was blunt, bordering on rudeness, and for a long time, she couldn't be bothered with niceties and small talk. She was tall, strong, and a formidable fighter. As a Borg she had killed or assimilated hundreds of people. She had a brilliant mind and extensive knowledge. She was also stunningly beautiful – so many reasons why making friends on board wasn't easy for her.

But in spite of her loneliness, the young woman's desire to experience the rituals of human courtship first-hand had been short lived. After an awkward first date, Seven had decided that there was just no one on board for her. She was still too much Borg to socialize easily and in her strife for perfection wasn't one to waste her time on things she couldn't be efficient at. So when had she decided to give this another try? And why with Chakotay of all people?

Seven had been lonely for so long. Janeway should have been glad that she was now able to open up enough to actually date someone. Glad to see her discover those new feelings like the young, inexperienced woman that she never had a chance to be, growing in the Borg collective. Glad that Seven had set her mind on Chakotay, who was a good and caring man.

Janeway had never wanted anything but for these two people to be happy. They were both very dear to her. She had wished for Chakotay to move on with his life and find someone else who would love him back – he deserved it. She had hoped that Seven would experience romantic love someday. She had just never imagined that they would end up finding that happiness together.

Seven had been raised by the Borg collective with an implant in her brain to suppress her human feelings. Only recently had the Doctor found a way to deactivate it. Yet Janeway had never had any doubts that the young woman was able to love, even before her implant could be deactivated.

The ex-drone had shown deep maternal feelings for One, her Borg child, and grieved upon his death. She had been a mother to the children she had rescued from the Borg cube and a mentor to Icheb, the teenage boy whose life she had saved twice and that she had turned into a very promising young scientist.

Not to mention the loyalty bordering on devotion that Seven had always expressed for her Captain, even when she was busy fiercely arguing with her. She was never afraid of speaking up because she was always so eager to prove herself and live up to Janeway's expectations.

It's my fault. I have driven her away.

The thought crossed Janeway's mind that being with each other was probably the best thing that could happen to Chakotay and Seven right now. They were not the most eager crew members to go back to Earth – neither of them really knew what to expect from that return.

Chakotay was part of the Maquis – a rebel organization – and considered a terrorist by the authorities when he had left Earth seven years ago with Voyager on his tail to capture him. All of his rebel friends were now dead or in jail. He wasn't sure how warm the welcome would be and if he was going to escape punishment, even after serving flawlessly as a Starfleet senior officer on Voyager for seven years.

And Seven was just a little girl when her parents had taken her along on a research mission in the Delta Quadrant more than twenty years ago. After being separated from them, assimilated and raised by the Borg collective, her home world was now an alien planet to her. The only people she was familiar with were here on Voyager. The Borg soldiers had devastated the entire universe for decades, and as an ex-Borg who still sported a few visible implants, Seven was not sure if she would arouse anything but hatred and fear around her.

But now at least, to face the uncertainty of their return to Earth, Chakotay and Seven had each other.

Janeway's heart sank at that thought. As the Captain of the ship, she couldn't possibly allow herself to date anyone serving under her command during a mission, even a mission as long as this one had turned out to be. They all were – they still were – under her command. Including Seven, even if the young woman wasn't really a Starfleet crew member. It didn't matter how the Captain felt about her, how she had been feeling for years. Seven had chosen someone else. It was too late.